"The federal government has been paying lip service to the idea that it wants to encourage new businesses and startups in the US. And this is truly important to the economy, as studies have shown that almost all of the net job growth in this country is coming from internet startups. Thankfully some politicians recognize this, but the federal government seems to be going in the other direction. With the JotForm situation unfolding, where the US government shut down an entire website with no notice or explanation, people are beginning to recognize that the US is not safe for internet startups." Not an issue today per se, but if the US government keeps this up, they do run a risk of lobotomising their technology sector.

Hmm, have you seen the rate at which German Higher Education is providing English-only courses? Do you realise what this means in terms of skimming off talent from the UK, for example, where the costs of getting a degree are about to skyrocket, not to mention internationally? And German, schmerman: if not entirely bilingual, Germany has a pretty high percentage of proficient English speakers, unlike some other parts of 'old' Europe. Germany also has a relatively booming economy and cannot fill the amount of vacancies it has, which means a further draw for the young and ambitious student/early-careerist

It's not just the language. It's also the culture.
Take for instance Paypal. This startup was successful in the US because there was a need for online payments there. Where I live (France), we use CB (carte bleue) for payment. We use Paypal only when paying on American sites. Paypal would not be successful if it was not American because it fills a need in the US that does not exist in Germany. Same for Amazon. In France we already have have book shops for French books (alapage.com, fnac.com, etc). Amazon is successful because it fills a need in the US. China uses Baidu instead of Google because it fills their need better. However, nobody use fnac.com, CB or Baidu in the US. That is why Baidu will never replace Google, fnac.com will never replace Amazon and CB will never ever replace Paypal.

Most CB are Visa or Mastercard, both of them being american companies... Paypal raised to fame by allowing payement between individuals (mostly for eBay). Small business started to use it because it was cheaper for them than a regular credit card. Also at the time, it was on the few services that allowed some "safety", now most banks provide that service as well.

As for amazon, I am rather convinced there use to be book store in the US before 1995 when Amazon was founded... like Barnes and Nobles... Which is the "Fnac" of the US, whose ".com" version is limited to the US. The reason fnac.com cannot be successfull outside of France (and some european countries like Spain) is because it came too late to the game, now there is too much competition. Amazon was the first online book seller in the world, and they grab the biggest market share in North America and Europe. And there is simply no room for any other global player.